Demonstrating a Role-Model Behavior

Introduction
One of the most important and effective ways to encourage respect for diversity in the
workplace is to role model appropriate behaviour.
This section discusses and presents elements within the concept of ‘diversity in the workplace’
and presents strategies for role modelling suitable personal behaviour.

Defining workplace diversity

Workplace diversity is a concept:
 Underpinning Equal Employment Opportunity and Equity
principles – which may be:
 A legal requirement
 A moral obligation
 Requiring planning for successful and effective implementation – in terms of ‘Diversity’:
 Strategies
 Policies
 Procedures/SOPs
 Referring to a blend/mix of people from different backgrounds – as opposed to a group of
homogenous people: see ‘Elements of workplace diversity’ below
 Acquiring increasing importance. significance and acceptance – as employers realise the
many benefits it brings to businesses: see ‘Benefits of workplace diversity’ below
 Providing a range of perspectives – on:
 Problems
 Opportunities
 Decisions and action the business takes
 Highlighting the principle of ‘inclusion’/’inclusivity’.
Elements of workplace diversity
Showing respect for diversity in the workplace refers to acknowledging and responding
appropriately to workers who are from and/or who have a wide possible range of background
factors (sometimes referred to as ‘dimensions’) – such as:
 Age – there is always a need to adhere to
legislated in-country requirements about minimum
age for employees but workplace diversity
welcomes workers of all ages.
Workplace diversity therefore:
 Is not ageist
 Does not discriminate against young or old
people
 Will not require a minimum number of years experience for a job/role – rather the
organisation identifies the competencies required
 Class – workplace diversity accepts useful and effective staff can come from all classes.

This means:
 Workers from lower classes are not ostracised
 Employees are selected on qualifications, experience and/or merit rather than their
socio-economic background
 Disabilities – those with disabilities are encouraged and accepted into the workforce.

Those with disabilities include those with:

 Physical disabilities
 Mental disabilities
 Other identified ‘special needs’. In practice they are positively discriminated – that is,
action is taken to encourage them and facilitate their engagement/employment.
Employers take action/spend money (sometimes subsidised by the government) to alter
the workplace to accommodate those with a disability as part of an ‘Affirmative action’
program
 Educational levels – workplaces acknowledge a person’s education level is not necessarily
an indicator of their potential or capacity.

Workplaces seek:
 Competency at the required levels in the required tasks
 To provide on-the-job (or other) training to bring competency to the required level
 Ethnicity – this means workers are discriminated against based on their:
  Race
 Cultural background
 Religion
 Spiritual practices
 Language spoken
 Family-related issues – such as:
 Responsibilities – a diverse workforce will seek to:
– Provide casual/part-time work for those with
children to care for
– Facilitate flexible work arrangements and working from home for those who have
family obligations
 Family structure – there is no discrimination on the basis of:
– Whether people have children or not
– Number of people in a family
– Marital status
 Gender – a business subscribing to a diverse workforce will not:
 Hire or fire based on whether a person is male or female
 Train or withhold training on the basis of gender
 Promote or withhold promotion based on gender
 Make workplace decisions based on a person’s sexual orientation/preference.

Evolution of ‘diversity’
Diversity in the workplace has evolved as a concept over time.
After beginning with a focus on factors/characteristics such as age, gender, race, religion and
culture it expanded to embrace dimensions such as sexual preference and orientation, family
orientation and structure, and mental and physical disabilities.
It has now grown to include more peripheral issues such as work-life balance and people’s
preferences for flexible work options (such as job sharing, working from home, tele-commuting).

Role modelling behaviour demonstrating respect for diversity

There is no single action that demonstrates personal orientation to respecting diversity – rather,
a mix of attitudes and actions are required.
Managers and supervisors can role model appropriate behaviour by:
 Realising all their actions and communications can be seen/heard by others – who will infer
values into what is done. If the manager/supervisor does something, the employees will feel
it is alright for them to do the same. They will attribute values to what the
manager/supervisor says and does, and they will use these actions/words as the basis for
what they, in turn, do and say. In essence the staff will predominantly reflect back to the
manager/supervisor what they have said/done
 Creating a suite of ‘diversity’ documents – to underpin the implementation of workplace
diversity.

Documentation can include:

 A Diversity Strategy
 A Diversity Policy
 Diversity protocols/SOPs.
Having these in place will:
 Prove management is serious about workplace
diversity
 Facilitate staff training in diversity
 Enable clear workplace communication regarding diversity requirements
 Give advice/direction on action to take including what is allowed/acceptable and
prohibited/unacceptable
 Dealing with unacceptable behaviour – whenever they see it, hear it and/or otherwise
become aware of it.

Action in this regard will depend on the causal factor/s but may include (for example):
 Interrupting and/or reprimanding a staff member who uses unacceptable terminology
 Altering the wording of documentation which supports discrimination or other unfair
treatment of staff
 Disciplining workers and/or providing training or formal counselling to those who engage
in unacceptable behaviour in the workplace
 Acknowledging good work by staff – in relation to encouraging, embracing and working with
diversity.

This means managers/supervisors need to be alert for positive indicators of the

implementation of organisational diversity policies and SOPs, and:
 Congratulate those who are doing what is required
 Share their good work with other managers/supervisors or the business owner
 Encourage on-going compliance
 Avoiding unacceptable behaviour or language – which runs contrary to diversity and
‘inclusion’ principles.

This means, for example:

 Not making ageist, sexist or racist remarks and not using ageist, sexist or racist
language about anyone/anything
 Stopping others from doing so as soon as it is identified – each time and every time,
without exception
 Not engaging in jokes or anecdotes which are in poor taste and/or of a ageist, sexist or
racist nature
 Celebrating successes – where the business has reaped a reward/benefit as a result of
following a strategy of workplace diversity.

These successes can be any ‘good news’ story which would have been impossible if the
business had adhered to traditional, non-diversity principles and practices – for example:
 Winning a client/tender with a company from a new
country/culture
 Receiving compliments/an award/praise/high-levels
of satisfaction from certain groups of
people/customers
 Finding a solution to an on-going business problem
that was only possible due to the effort, experience,
expertise and/or approach applied by the diverse
nature of the workforce
 Offering training to others – to help them understand the role of diversity in business and
how it can benefit not only the organisation but also all the workers within it as well as the
customers.

Many businesses:
 Incorporate a standard, mandatory ‘diversity’ component into their ‘Induction and
Orientation’ program for all new employees
  Make available a variety of different sessions teaching staff how best/better to work with
others from certain other ethnic or other groups
 Creating a genuinely diverse workforce –
through application of structured/strategic
actions such as:
 Recruiting a diverse workforce
 Providing training to all
 Encouraging all workers to engage with the
business
 Promoting a diversity of people.

Cultivating a Climate for Employees Ability

Introduction
All inclusive workplaces must operate within a supportive environment.
This section defines and discusses group identity and presents actions which will help create a
workplace climate genuinely supportive of individual and group identities while still allowing
organisational and personal work goals to be achieved.

Group identity and its influences

Group identity refers to the way a group wants to be seen by others.
Their identity is based on factors they consider to be worthy and valuable.
The people who belong to the group conform to these criteria/standards/values in order to be
seen as belonging to the group.
Problems may occur when the individual criteria/standards/values of a worker are significantly
different to those of the group they are working in.
Group identity is sometimes referred to as the glue that holds a group together.
Group identity has a major influence on many things the members of the group do in a work
situation – such as:
 The way they act/behave in the workplace – towards each other, other teams/groups and
towards management and customers
 How they speak/talk to others while at work – especially workers from another group/team,
customers and management/owners
 The way and the extent to which they communicate/share information in the business –
between teams, with customers and with management
 Their dress standards – and the extent they comply with imposed guidelines/requirements
for personal presentation of staff
 Compliance levels – with workplace policies and procedures/general requirements, the
extent they strive to achieve goals/objectives set for the team and/or the business, and the
degree to which they are prepared to align with legally-imposed obligations/mandatory
obligations.
Group identities will relate to characteristics by which
an individual is recognisable as a member of a group
and include reference to their:
 Cultural background
 Gender
 Age
 Sexual preference.

Creating a supportive working climate

The following will help create a work climate where group identities do not inhibit/negatively
impact workplace performance or the attainment of individual career goals:
 Commit to an inclusive workforce – the business
needs to determine it is genuinely committed to the
concept/principles of diversity and equity. Without this
basic fundamental there will never be any real
progress towards a truly diverse workplace
 Initiate a team to develop the protocols to support and
underpin the diversity initiative – in terms of
writing/creating the necessary documentation and
workplace frameworks to enable diversity to exist and
flourish. The team should comprise a blended balance of management personnel and
employees from within all departments of the business
 Develop a Diversity Strategy – to guide how the organisation will address workplace
diversity and what it will do to achieve the targets and goals it sets for itself within that
Strategy. The Diversity Strategy may set direction for the organisation in relation to topics
such as:
 Increasing numbers/percentage of workforce from identified ‘disadvantaged groups’
(such as women, the disabled, youth, elderly, people from nominated countries) – in
accordance with ‘affirmative action’ principles which seeks to take action to positively
discriminate in favour of a disadvantaged group
 Setting targets for the percentage/numbers of the workforce from nominated groups –
such as:
– ‘25% of management-level employees will be female by XX/XX/2016’
– ‘Front office staff will comprise 10% disabled people by XX/XX/2016’
– ‘The organisation will have a workforce comprising 25 employees over the age of 55
years by XX/XX/2016’
 Describing strategic action (in the form of an Action Plan) to be taken by the organisation
to address and implement workplace diversity – such as:
 – ‘The organisation will appoint/employ a Diversity/Equal Opportunity Officer to
implement, optimise and facilitate workplace diversity by XX/XX/2016’
– ‘All existing employees will participate in a nominated ‘Diversity in the Workplace’
workshop as approved by management by XX/XX/2016’
– ‘The existing Induction and Orientation program for new staff will be supplemented
by the introduction of a new ‘Workplace Diversity’ component by XX/XX/2016’
 Develop a suite of Policies – to support the Diversity Strategy giving guidance and direction
about how the Strategy will be implemented in the workplace defining and describing terms,
responsibilities, monitoring, reporting and other operational imperatives. Polices may be
needed for topics such as:
 Recruitment – see section 1.3
 Selection – see section 1.3
 Promotion – see section 1.3
 Training
 Bullying
 Harassment
 Victimisation
 Performance management
 Internal consultation and communication
 Dispute and grievance resolution
 Including all diversity policies in the Staff Handbook – and providing each workers with a
copy of this as part of their Induction and Orientation
 Writing/re-writing the public statements of the organisation to reflect the sentiments and
direction espoused by the Diversity Strategy and supporting Diversity policies – and create a
workplace culture of mutual respect and inclusion
 Making someone responsible for implementation of the initiative – so there is ownership of
the innovation
 Initiating/including formal workplace training for all staff – on diversity in the workplace
 Actively identifying diversity issues which are negatively impacting workers in the business –
through a formal auditing or investigation process
 Working immediately to address diversity issues – as revealed by the formal auditing or
investigation process
 Ensuring adequate resourcing for the diversity
initiative – in terms of time, money, staffing and
physical resources
 Encouraging all workers to participate – and to
become actively engaged with the innovation
 Getting managers/owners to talk about diversity – and
make public statements to staff about their
commitment to it and what they will do to implement
and sustain it as genuine workplace practice
 Implementing a ‘zero tolerance’ policy/approach – to
all breaches of acceptable behaviour, languages or relevant workplace policies.
 Integrating achievement of personal goals with the attainment of organisational
targets/objectives – so there is a win-win outcome
 Creating ‘workplace champions’ – of staff who have demonstrated a commitment to the
diversity process and a capacity to implement appropriate requirements.
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Introduction
A basic platform on which genuine workplace diversity is built is the use of merit-based
employment policies.
This section defines the principle of merit-based management of employees, identifies and
describes relevant employment policies explaining how they support workplace diversity and
indicate management commitment to same.

‘Merit-based’
The use of a merit-based approach to staffing underpins successful/effective workplace diversity
and the principles of equity/equal opportunity.
Employing workers using the merit-based approach means:
 Hiring or promoting the ‘best person for the job’ – based
on their skills and knowledge
 Ignoring irrelevant factors – such as looks, gender, age,
race, religion, sexuality)when making staffing decisions
 Not allowing favouritism, prejudice or personal bias to
influence or determine decisions made about individual
staff members
 Using a competitive process selection process where applicants compete against each other
– as opposed to selection/decisions being made on the basis of hunches or bigotry
 Making decisions which are based on selection (or other relevant) criteria and not on a whim
or on other irrelevant factors – so there is consistency and fairness across all decisions
made
 Making decisions which are transparent – and able to be justified, explained and/or
defended.

Employment policies
Role
Employment policies are the suite of policies developed by an organisation to:
 Guide and prescribe operational requirements in relation to employment-related activities in
the workplace
 Ensure all employees are treated fairly and treated equally.

Types of policies
There is no commonly agreed set of employment policies.
Some organisations have more than others however there is agreement all employment policies
will cover:
 Recruitment of staff – see below
 Selection of staff – see below
 Promotion of staff – see below.
Possible additional employment policies may include:
 Training of staff
 Issue/dispute resolution
 Performance management
 Staff leave
 Staff entitlements.

Important points to note

It is important to note these policies:
 Will vary between employers – they may even differ between different workplaces of the
same employer
 Will change over time – on the basis of reviews, experience and changes to legislation
and/or company strategies and directions and goals in this respect
 Must reflect legislated obligations imposed on organisations by relevant IR and similar
statute
 Must be identified and explained as part of the Induction and Orientation process – for all
new employees
 Should be readily available to all staff – for example, these policies should be:
 Contained in Staff Handbooks
 Available through the organisational intranet
 Should be included as part of mandatory formal training – provided by the organisation to all
staff
 The Staff Recruitment policy is often combined with the Staff Selection policy – as opposed
to there being two separate polices
 The Policies will contain procedures/SOPs to follow – when the policies need to be
implemented
 It is a fact of life many organisations have no/few formal employment policies – which have
been committed to writing and which reflect equity/diversity principles and practices.

Recruitment of staff
The Staff Recruitment policy should address the following:
 Insisting all job vacancy advertisements must mention/state that the organisation:
 Is an Equal Opportunity employer
 Supports the principles of equity and inclusion
 Developing Key Selection Criteria for every job
vacancy – ensuring these are:
 Updated for every vacancy – to ensure they
remain relevant for the position being advertised
 Carefully constructed – to ensure they are written
in a non-discriminatory manner
 Making sure all terminology used is free of direct and indirect bias – which would function to
restrict people being recruited based on their merit.

Direct bias is a statement in the advertisement (or a photograph or use of specific terms)
which is obviously unfair and/or does not support diversity – for example:
 ‘Women are invited to apply for the position of …’
 ‘Mature workers are sought for the position of ….
 ‘The organisation is seeking people of Asian background to …’
Indirect bias is often unintentional bias introduced into the advertisement by virtue of
statements made. For example:
 ‘People with 10 year’s experience are sought for …’ – this automatically discriminates
against younger employees
 ‘A married couple is sought to manage …’ – this automatically discriminates against
those who are not married
 Listing where all job vacancies are advertised – to make sure people from a diversity of
backgrounds have a genuine opportunity to become aware of the vacancy.
This may mean:
 Naming websites where the job vacancy is to be lodged – to ensure a fair spread across
sites to optimise reach to identified cohorts of potential employees
 Nominating agencies with whom vacancy must be listed – so a larger pool of potential
employees can be recruited
 Identifying the newspaper where adverts must be lodged – which helps ensure
vacancies are listed in newspapers read by certain groups of potential employees
 Stipulating other matters relevant to the recruitment process – such as:
 Job/position details to be included in job vacancy advertisements – so applicants have a
genuine understanding of what the position requires the successful applicant to do
 Key Selection Criteria for the position are included in job vacancy advertisements – so
applicants understand how their application will be evaluated/judged to determine their
suitability for the job
 Language to be used for the vacancy advertisements – to ensure a wider cohort of
applicants can become aware of the vacancy and understand how to apply
 Length of time the vacancies are to be advertised for – so applicants understand there is
a time limit within which they need to apply, and so selection staff can plan their
involvement in the recruitment and selection process.

Selection of staff
The Staff Selection policy should address the following for the interview process for every
applicant:
 Personnel who will conduct the interview – and be part of the selection team/panel. It is
preferable the selection panel comprises a mix of people that represents the actual or
intended diversity of the workplace. That is, there should be a blend of genders, age and
race on the selection panel, as opposed to (say) having a selection panel comprising all
elderly males.

The policy should also address:

 Number of people on the selection panel
 How these people are to be chosen
 The standard process for short-listing applicants for job
vacancies – so there is consistency and fairness for all
candidates.

The short-listing process must:

 Be applied fairly across all applicants
 Observe the same rigour and ethical conduct as the
interview process
 Reflect the stated requirements of the KSC as contained in the job vacancy
advertisement
 Confirmation of the Key Selection Criteria – the approved KSC must be:
 Read by those on the selection panel so they are familiar with what is required of
applicants for the position
 Converted to a written ‘scoring sheet’ – used to record the ‘score’ of each applicant when
their knowledge and skills are assessed the requirements of each individual KSC
 Location for the interview – in terms of the room/space to be used, so all applicants
experience the same interview environment
 How the interview is to be conducted – with reference to issues (as appropriate) to things
such as:
 Role of each person on the selection
panel
 Use of KSC to record suitability of each
applicant and determine successful
applicant
 How affirmative aspects of the Diversity
Strategy for the organisation are to be
accommodated and integrated into the
principles of fairness and equity
 Additional activities which are to be
conducted as part of the interview process, such as:
– Trade tests – these are practical tests applied to job applicants used to help
determine their practical skills
– Medical examinations – some organisations require applicants to agree to certain
medical tests as part of the selection process
– Personality profiling – for some positions in an organisation there can be a need for
candidates to undergo a profiling test/activity/exercise to determine aspects of their
individual attributes, characteristics and values
 Protocols for determining the successful applicant for each vacancy – which must ensure:
 The employment decision is made based on the objective data captured during the
interview process and recorded on the KSC scoring sheet
 The final decision can be explained/defended/justified with reference to the objective
data
 The best person for the job is chosen regardless of who that person may be
 Notification to candidates in relation to their success, failure and/or performance at the
interview – with reference to:
 Use of ‘Letter of Notification’ to successful candidate (Offer of Employment)
 Use of ‘Letter of Thanks and Regret’.
Promotion of staff
The Staff Promotion policy should address the following in terms of workplace diversity:
 The same principles that apply to staff recruitment and selection must apply to the promotion
of employees – in terms of (for example):
 Equity, transparency and accountability – promoting the best person for the job
 Notifications regarding the opportunity for
promotion
 Use of KSC to make the decision about who to
promote
 Application of a competitive process to identify the
successful candidate for promotion
 Accommodation and integration of the organisational
Diversity Strategy – which may require affirmative
action to be taken to promote nominated disadvantaged groups into (for example) positions
of responsibility/management.
 How the organisation will accommodate their need to:
 Promote staff internally to give them the motivation of a defined career path within the
organisation – as opposed to always promoting people from outside the organisation
 Engage in legitimate succession planning – to help guarantee the ongoing viability of the
operation.
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Introduction
In all workplaces there is a need for a structured approach to the implementation and
maintenance of diversity.
This section addresses an important element enabling actual implementation of management
espoused intentions.

Foundation thoughts
In relation to this section it is important to note:

 The development of diversity practices may occur at the same time/as part of the same
process that developed the diversity policies – instead of being a separate activity
 Diversity practices and policies are often combined/presented in the same document – refer
previous web references which have been provided
 Practices are also known as ‘procedures’ – and are commonly known as SOPs
 Stakeholders in this context refers to anyone with a stake in the SOPs being developed and
implemented – in practice this means/could involve:
 Employees
 Management
 Government bodies/authorities/agencies.

Planning
Keys to the planning process are:
 Ensuring the policies which have been written
reflect/flow from the Diversity Strategy – so there is
alignment between these documents. Any identified
disconnects need to be reviewed and revised to make sure there is proper alignment from
the initial/source documents through to its translation into reality in the workplace
 Reading and gaining a comprehensive understanding of all the diversity policies for which
practices are to be written – in order:
 Everyone has the same orientation to what exists as a starting point for this stage of the
process – at this point it is ‘too late’ (not possible) to revise or re-write the Diversity
Strategy or the approved diversity policies
 Thinking about the practices to be developed will be rooted in the intent of the guiding
documents
 Decisions made will allow the meaning and objectives of the policies to be attained
 Networking with ‘relevant others’ (other organisations,
industry bodies and government agencies) – to:
 Talk with them about their development process and
obtain advice and suggestions based on their
experience
 Obtain material from them such as examples of
diversity SOPs they have prepared as
models/templates or as genuine practices
implemented within their organisations
 Identify legal requirements which need to be
accommodated
 Involving the workforce in the planning process – so they can:
 Identify issues to address
 Make contributions
 Feel genuinely engaged with the process
 Allocating sufficient resources to the process – in terms of:
 Staff time – for them to attend meetings and participate in the planning process
 Staff/human resources – to:
– Lead the development/writing process
– Organise and manage the process
– Write and revise documents/SOPs
 Physical resources – to enable:
– Research
– Writing
– Printing
– Other activities necessary for the development stage – distribution, meeting
requisites, travel, communication needs
 Setting timelines and schedules – for development activities, such as:
 When meetings are to be held to discuss/plan what is needed
 The date by which:
– Initial drafts of nominated SOPs have to be prepared
– Drafts have to be reviewed and feedback provided
– Revised drafts have to be prepared and circulated for comment
– Final drafts are presented to management for their approval
– Implementation will occur
 Identifying the support needed for staff – so they:
 Identify the requirements of each SOP as intended
  Obtain training/assistance to enhance future compliance
 Know they are being actively supported by the organisation in their efforts
 Determining consequences for non-compliance with SOPs – which may be:
 Verbal warning/reprimand
 Requirement to attend nominated training
 Written warning
 Dismissal.

Developing
Important considerations in the development of workplace practices to support diversity include:
 Writing drafts of SOPs – based on input from:
 Staff
 Legislated obligations which must be
complied with
 Management
 Presenting draft SOPs to stakeholders – in
order they:
 Remain engaged with the process
 Can identify where and how their input/thoughts have been integrated into the drafts
SOPs which have been prepared
 Have an opportunity to provide comment/feedback for the purposes of revisions
 Revising the drafts documents – so that:
 Legitimate comment is accepted and incorporated into documentation
 Transparency and accountability of the process can be seen by all
 Staff can see the process is not being rushed
 Making sure the practices which are written support the stated intentions, guidelines and
directions contained in each of the diversity policies – there needs to be alignment between:
 Diversity Strategy and the diversity policies
 The diversity polices and the diversity practices/SOPs
 Re-presenting revised drafts – so:
 Staff can see their input has been accommodated
 Staff can approve the document as the Final Draft – subject to any changes which may
need to be made at this stage
 Submitting approved and revised draft to management – for their approval as the basis for:
 Producing the Final approved version of the SOPs
 Circulating the Final approved version to staff and trainers
  Lodging the SOPs on the business intranet
 Incorporating the SOPs in Staff Handbooks and Induction and Orientation programs.

Implementing
In order to effectively implement the practices which have been developed to underpin
workplace diversity practices it is essential to apply actions as follows:
 Establishing a time-table for implementation – the implementation needs to be planned and
scheduling of nominated activities is advisable
 Training of staff needs to occur – which will require:
 Advising Trainers or those who will conduct the
training of what is required
 Allowing time for the preparation of training
materials and scheduling of training classes
 Delivery of prepared sessions to all staff
 Creation of on-going support from Trainers in
term so f (for example) top-up training and/or
remedial classes
 Nominating a transitional phase for implementation of each practice/SOP – meaning:
 Setting a date when the SOP will begin
 Setting a date by which all staff are expected to demonstrate total compliance with what
is required
 Reminding staff of need for compliance with reference to:
 Highlighting benefits of compliance and cooperation
 Identifying disadvantages of not complying and cooperating
 Indicating consequences for non-compliance
 Providing the support for staff – as decided and agreed during the planning stage
 Monitoring the implementation of the SOPs – and:
 Discussing implementation at staff meetings to gain feedback and address issues arising
 Acknowledging compliance with what is required
 Providing ongoing encouragement/motivation to comply
 Revising SOPs – if required, on the basis of issues arising and problems encountered which
were not anticipated but demand a resolution
 Reporting to management – on the progress of implementation with reference to relevant
KPIs (qualitative and quantitative) as appropriate to each SOP, for example:
 A happier workplace
 Higher levels of cooperation and initiative
 Reduced levels of staff turnover
  Increased patronage from certain market sectors
 Fewer problems for supervisors to resolve.
Examples of work practices

It is not the purpose of these notes to prescribe SOPs for organisations as these must/should
differ to accommodate the unique environment and context of individual workplaces.
This section serves to possible identify topics/issues each workplace may consider as part of
their efforts to embrace workplace diversity:
 Acknowledging religious and cultural celebrations – to:
 Address the needs of individual employees
 Celebrate these occasions with the local community
 Appropriately allocating duties to particular staff members – based on:
 Their age
 Their physical size and capabilities
 Their particular needs
 Their knowledge and ability
 The potential they have for multi-skilling
and/or promotion
 Culturally appropriate mixing of staff – to avoid
situations where:
 Tensions may be caused through
inconsiderate and/or insensitive placement
of employees
 Communication may be difficult between people of different nationalities
 Training employees in a range of issues – such as :
 Culturally appropriate communication
 Language skills
 Cultural awareness
 National dress standards/codes
 Considering customers with special needs – including those who:
 Are disabled
 Have language/communication difficulties – as in they are experiencing difficulty
communicating in the local tongue
 May be especially young or elderly
 Have health-related problems
 Are travelling with family/small children/babies
 Addressing workplace communication – in relation to:
  Employing different communication media and techniques to engage with staff and
customers
 Producing posters, leaflets, brochures and workplace polices, SOPs, checklists and
similar in a range of different languages
 Using personal differences of staff within the organisation – in relation to:
 Recognising their unique characteristics and
the individual nature of the knowledge they
bring to the business
 Engaging unique characteristics and
knowledge of staff from different
backgrounds to benefit customers and hence
benefit the business
 Tackling identified workplace barriers – as
identified by staff, so that:
 There is a more harmonious workplace
 Incorrect perceptions about others can be addressed
 Communal learning can occur and personal knowledge can be expanded
 Preparing and developing appropriate issue resolution procedures – with reference to:
 How to identify and avoid workplace problems based on diversity characteristics of
individuals and/or groups
 Strategies and techniques for raising and resolving problems caused by or associated
with diversity issues.
 Initiating flexible work practices – these may be valid issues for workers in terms of their
need for or preference regarding:
 Job sharing – where one role/job/position is shared by a number of people
 Carer’s leave is introduced/made available – for staff with responsibilities for looking
after family who may be sick, elderly or disabled
 Incorporating the wearing of national or religious dress with staff uniforms required by the
organisation.
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Introduction
The delivery of assistance and coaching to employees is an important element in the
introduction, and ongoing implementation, of workplace protocols to embrace diversity.
This section examines how this type of support may be provided and identifies the differences
between people which may need to be considered within this context.

Providing support
The provision of workplace support to employees to enable them to genuinely embrace diversity
in relation to both co-workers and customers may require:
 Delivering formal staff training courses to all operational staff – comprising:
 Structured classes which have been designed to enable implementation of the required
policies and SOPs
 Formal or informal assessment to ensure the required information and skills have been
communicated
 Delivering training to management-level staff – to
enable them to:
 Learn about the initiatives
 Learn how to help, support their staff in
implementation of required protocols
 Deal with workplace-based diversity issues
and problems
 Conducting practical sessions/training – which:
 Focus on the use of demonstration – to show
how things should be done/handled or addressed
 Use role play – to give an opportunity for employees to practice SOPs within their
designated workplace role
 Providing regular forums and meeting opportunities for staff to discuss the initiative – in
terms of:
 Raising issues of concern to them
 Being informed of progress of implementation of policies and SOPs
 Being advised of attainments in relation to the Diversity Strategy and its inherent
targets/objectives
 Making ‘Diversity’ a standing agenda item – at:
 Staff briefings
 Staff meetings
 Management-level meetings
  Encouraging staff to be self-reflective on their implementation of protocols – in order to:
 Identify what they have done well/poorly
 Identify where they need assistance to
improve/demonstrate compliance with requirements
 Gain confidence from instances where they have
been compliant with requirements
 Celebrate their individual progress
 Developing a framework/infrastructure to support staff
activities – such as:
 Creating work-based opportunities for individuals to
share experiences, thoughts and concerns
 Facilitating workplace opportunities for people of different backgrounds to share their
history/story with others
 Allowing employees to engage with significant cultural, religious or other diversity-based
events, rites or celebrations
 Adhering to flexible rostering – whereby those who develop the rosters are willing to
accommodate significant cultural, religious or other diversity-based events, rites or
celebrations and important personal issues
 Providing coaching – to individuals and small groups as the need to do so is identified and
the opportunity to do so occurs in order to:
 Demonstrate ongoing commitment of management/the organisation to the diversity
initiative
 Support the formal training being delivered
 Give on-the-spot/at-the-time advice and practical suggestions when a need to do
emerges
 Show staff what they should/could have done in the situation being
considered/addressed
 Tell staff what they should have said in the situation being considered/addressed
 Making sure all promised/planned resources and support are actually being provided – such
as:
 Training and facilitation sessions
 Personal training and development for particular individuals
 Physical resources deemed necessary – such as (for example) printed materials in
different languages
 Sensitive placement of staff and/or rostering of employees with due deference to their
individual needs/background/circumstances
 Practical monitoring of the initiative – to capture data on which to evaluate
implementation
 Having an open-door policy for staff – so they can:
 Easily/readily speak to management which are of concern to them
  Know management is willing to support them and discuss their issues of concern
 Responding immediately to genuine problems identified as a result of implementation of
the diversity initiative – which (for example) may require:
 Re-location of certain staff to different roles or different
roster times
 Initiation of approved issue/conflict resolution strategies
and techniques
 Never ignoring real issues
 Tackling small issues before they become big ones.
 Holding regular reviews of diversity policies and procedures –
in order that:
 Staff can advise of changing circumstances which need to be addressed and/or
accommodated
 Staff understand these protocols remain an important aspect of the management and
operation of the business
 Suitable revisions can be made to protocols on the basis of internal and external issues
arising.

Differences which may need to be considered

Embracing diversity may relate to acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and
celebrating differences among people with respect to their:

 Age  Class  Cultural background

 Disabilities  Educational levels  Ethnicity

 Family responsibilities  Family structure  Gender

 Language  Life experience  Marital status

 Physical ability  Mental ability  Race

 Political beliefs/activity  Sexual  Socio-economic

orientation/preference background

 Special needs  Spiritual practices